Mr. and Mrs. Morland's surprise on being applied to by Mr. Tilney for their consent to his marrying their
daughter was, for a few minutes, considerable, it having never entered their heads to suspect an attachment
on either side; but as nothing, after all, could be more natural than Catherine's being beloved, they soon
learnt to consider it with only the happy agitation of gratified pride, and, as far as they alone were concerned,
had not a single objection to start. His pleasing manners and good sense were self-evident recommendations; and
having never heard evil of him, it was not their way to suppose any evil could be told. Goodwill supplying
the place of experience, his character needed no attestation. "Catherine would make a sad, heedless
young housekeeper to be sure," was her mother's foreboding remark; but quick was the consolation of
there being nothing like practice.

There was but one obstacle, in short, to be mentioned; but till that one was removed, it must be impossible
for them to sanction the engagement. Their tempers were mild, but their principles were steady, and
while his parent so expressly forbade the connection, they could not allow themselves to encourage it.
That the general should come forward to solicit the alliance, or that he should even very heartily approve
it, they were not refined enough to make any parading stipulation; but the decent appearance of consent
must be yielded, and that once obtained - and their own hearts made them trust that it could not be
very long denied - their willing approbation was instantly to follow. His consent was all that they wished
for. They were no more inclined than entitled to demand his money. Of a very considerable fortune, his
son was, by marriage settlements, eventually secure; his present income was an income of independence
and comfort, and under every pecuniary view, it was a match beyond the claims of their daughter.

The young people could not be surprised at a decision like this. They felt and they deplored - but they
could not resent it; and they parted, endeavouring to hope that such a change in the general, as each
believed almost impossible, might speedily take place, to unite them again in the fullness of privileged
affection. Henry returned to what was now his only home, to watch over his young plantations, and
extend his improvements for her sake, to whose share in them he looked anxiously forward; and Catherine
remained at Fullerton to cry. Whether the torments of absence were softened by a clandestine correspondence,
let us not inquire. Mr. and Mrs. Morland never did - they had been too kind to exact any promise; and
whenever Catherine received a letter, as, at that time, happened pretty often, they always looked another
way.

The anxiety, which in this state of their attachment must be the portion of Henry and Catherine, and of
all who loved either, as to its final event, can hardly extend, I fear, to the bosom of my readers, who will
see in the tell-tale compression of the pages before them, that we are all hastening together to perfect
felicity. The means by which their early marriage was effected can be the only doubt: what probable
circumstance could work upon a temper like the general's? The circumstance which chiefly availed was
the marriage of his daughter with a man of fortune and consequence, which took place in the course
of the summer - an accession of dignity that threw him into a fit of good humour, from which he did not
recover till after Eleanor had obtained his forgiveness of Henry, and his permission for him "to be a fool
if he liked it!"

The marriage of Eleanor Tilney, her removal from all the evils of such a home as Northanger had been
made by Henry's banishment, to the home of her choice and the man of her choice, is an event which
I expect to give general satisfaction among all her acquaintance. My own joy on the occasion is very
sincere. I know no one more entitled, by unpretending merit, or better prepared by habitual suffering,
to receive and enjoy felicity. Her partiality for this gentleman was not of recent origin; and he had been
long withheld only by inferiority of situation from addressing her. His unexpected accession to title and
fortune had removed all his difficulties; and never had the general loved his daughter so well in all her
hours of companionship, utility, and patient endurance as when he first hailed her "Your Ladyship!" Her
husband was really deserving of her; independent of his peerage, his wealth, and his attachment, being
to a precision the most charming young man in the world. Any further definition of his merits must be
unnecessary; the most charming young man in the world is instantly before the imagination of us all.
Concerning the one in question, therefore, I have only to add - aware that the rules of composition forbid
the introduction of a character not connected with my fable - that this was the very gentleman whose